Method And Apparatus For Scheduling And Modulation And Coding Selection For Supporting Quality Of Service In Transmissions On Forward Shared Radio Channels

ABSTRACT

The invention is a process and system for controlling selection of which MS is to receive the next packet data transmission on a forward channel and selection of which plural MCS is to be used for the packet data transmissions on the forward channel. A process for controlling selection of MCS method to be used by a BTS ( 10 ) to transmit data packets over a forward shared channel to a MS ( 12 ) in accordance with the invention stores information at the BTS, the information containing MCS methods which may be selected to transmit data packets over the forward shared channel to the MS; receiving from the MS at the BTS a quality indication of transmission of data packets over the forward channel to the MS; and selecting a MCS method from a plurality of MCS methods which may be used to transmit data packets on the forward channel dependent upon the received quality indication.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a divisional application of Ser. No.10/898,354, filed Jul. 26, 2004, which is a continuation of and adivisional application of Ser. No. 10/025,609, filed Dec. 26, 2001 andwhich claims the benefit of the filing date of Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 60/280,814, entitled “Method and Apparatus of Scheduling andModulation/Coding Selection for supporting Quality of Service in CDMA2000-1X EV-DV System”, filed on Apr. 3, 2001, which applications areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to wireless high-speed packet data transmissionson shared radio channels, such as CDMA2000 1XEV-DV and 3GPP HSDPA andmore specifically, to quality of service (QoS) implementation fortransmissions on the forward shared channel from a base transceiverstation (BTS) to mobile stations (MS).

2. Description of the Prior Art

QoS in 1XEV-DV has been proposed to examine throughput, delay and frameerror rate (FER) for packet data transmissions on a forward sharedchannel(s) from BTS to MS. See L. Jalloul, “Joint 1XTREME proposal for1XEV-DV” 3GPP2-050-20001 204-006RI, Kauai, Hi., December 2000.

A problem exists with 1XEV-DV (e.g. 1XTREME) BTS scheduling of theforward shared channel transmissions while QoS is maintained formultiple users, especially for mixed real-time and non-realtime servicesand how the BTS selects modulation and coding schemes based on QoSrequirements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a prior art system including a BTS 10and a group of N mobile stations (MS) 12 which may without limitation beused to practice the invention. The BTS 10 transmits packet data on aforward shared channel in accordance with a data BTS 10 transmits packetdata on a forward shared channel in accordance with a data transmissionprotocol, such as the 1X EV-DV specification to the MS 12. Theindividual MS 12 make reverse channel transmissions to the BTS 10,including without limitation on the Reverse Quality Echo Channel(R-QIECH) or Reserve Channel Quality Indication Channel (R-CQICH)information of the MS's current received throughput and FER for thetransmissions on the forward shared channel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a method and apparatus for (1) schedulingmultiplexed transmissions on the forward channel(s) to individual MSwithin a group of MS and (2) selection of Modulation and CodingSelection (MCS) from a group of selectable MCSs for controlling QoS witha preferred application of the invention without limitation being theCDMA 2000-1X ED-DV System. The forward shared channel providesmultiplexed high speed packet data services with MCS to control QoS formultiple users of the MS 12.

The fulfillment of QoS control and optimal radio resource management aretwo significant tasks for the BTS. The invention controls QoS byutilization of MS measurement feedback on a reverse channel followed bythe choice of MCS for subsequent packet data transmissions to the MSproviding the feedback dependent upon the feedback information which isused to select which MS is to receive the next transmission and whichMSC is to be used to provide optimal data transmission. The BTS uses QoScriteria to schedule the next multiplexed transmission and the MSC foreach MS. For the scheduled MS, the BTS selects the optimal MCS tofulfill the QoS requirement based upon the feedback from the MS and, asa result, efficiently utilizes the radio spectrum.

The invention may be implemented in diverse applications, includingwithout limitation, BTSs of a CDMA2000 1XEV-DV application and MSs of a1XEV-DV application if MS measurement feedback is used to optimize theMSC selection process.

A process for controlling selection of a modulation and coding selectionmethod to be used by a base transceiver station to transmit data packetsover a forward shared channel to a mobile station in accordance with theinvention includes storing information at the base transceiver station,the information containing selections of modulation and coding selectionmethods which may be selected to transmit data packets over the forwardshared channel to the mobile station; receiving from the mobile stationat the base transceiver station a quality indication of transmission ofdata packets over the forward channel to the base station; and selectinga modulation and coding selection method from a plurality of modulationand coding selection methods which may be used to transmit data packetson the forward channel dependent upon the received quality indication.The information may correlate modulation and coding selection methodswith frame error rate and throughput determined by the mobile station.Selection of one of the modulation and coding selection methods mayoptimize transmission of the data packets. The quality indication oftransmission may be a ratio of Ec (pilot channel strength) to Nt (noisefrom other cells). The quality indication of transmission may be afunction of frame error rate or a function of throughput which functionsmay be calculated by the mobile station over a plurality of datatransmissions over the forward channel from the base transceiver stationto the mobile station. The quality indication of transmission of datapackets may contain a trigger that either frame error rate informationor the throughput information is to be used in selecting a modulationand coding selection method and an indication of pilot signal strengthand the pilot signal strength may be used in the selection of amodulation and coding selection method based upon either the designatedframe error rate information or the designated throughput information.The trigger in the quality indication of transmission of data packets touse the frame error rate information may occur when the data packetsreceived on the forward channel are determined by the mobile station tobe sensitive to frame error rate. The trigger in the quality indicationof transmission of the data packets to use the throughput informationmay occur when the data received on the forward shared channel aredetermined by the mobile station to be sensitive to throughput. Thereceiving of the quality indication at the base station may be over areverse channel and the stored information may be stored in two tables.The reverse channel may be R-QUIECH or RCQICH.

A process for scheduling the transmission of data packets from a basetransceiver station over a forward shared channel to a plurality ofmobile stations in accordance with the invention includes receiving atthe base station transceiver information from each of the plurality ofmobile stations derived by each mobile station from data packetstransmitted on the forward shared channel to each of the plurality ofmobile stations which is a function at least two of a plurality ofparameters, the parameters being throughput of the data packets, frameerror rate of the data packets, delay of the data packets and subscriberpriority; and scheduling a next transmission of data packets to one ofthe plurality of mobile stations based upon calculating a schedulingquantity for each of the plurality of mobile stations which is afunction of at least two of the plurality of the parameters whichsatisfies a scheduling criteria to determine which mobile station isallocated the next transmission of data packets. The next transmissionmay be assigned to a mobile station which qualifies under the schedulingcriteria by performing a comparison of all calculated schedulingquantities calculated for the mobile stations. The scheduling quantitymay be a function of all of the parameters. The scheduling quantity maybe a function of a ratio R(req)/R(avg), where R(req) is the requiredthroughput of the data packets and R(avg) is the average throughput ofthe data packets, a function of a ratio FER(avg)/FER(req) where FER(avg)is the average frame error rate of the data packets and FER is therequired frame error rate of the data packets, a function of a ratioDELAY(avg)/DELAY(req) where DELAY(avg) is the average transmission delaybetween transmission of the data packets and DELAY(req) is the maximumpermissible transmission delay of the data packets and the subscriberpriority with the subscriber priority being a saved subscriber priorityof a priority of data transmission between subscribers of the mobilestations. The scheduling quantity SCHDL(i) may be defined as:

SCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*

FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri

where ki, k2 and k3 are normalization factors which are configurable atthe base transceiver station and pri is the subscriber priority.

A process for a base transceiver station to resolve whether frame errorrate or throughput of data packet transmissions to a mobile station overa forward shared channel should control a selection of which of aplurality of modulation and coding selection methods is to be used totransmit the transmission of data packets over the forward sharedchannel to the mobile station in accordance with the invention includescomputing a frame error rate of data packet transmission to the mobilestation and comparing that calculated frame error rate to a thresholdframe error rate; computing a throughput data rate of data packettransmission to the mobile station and comparing that calculatedthroughput data rate to a threshold throughput data rate; generating atrigger at the mobile station which identifies which of frame error rateor throughput is to be used to control selection of a modulation andcoding selection method to be used at the base transceiver station totransmit data packets on the forward shared channel; and transmittingthe generated trigger to the base transceiver station where the triggeris used at least as part of a selection criteria for choosing one of aframe error rate or a throughput dependent modulation and codingselection dependent method used to transmit the data packets on theforward channel to the mobile station.

A system which schedules transmission of data packets in accordance withthe invention includes a base station transceiver and a plurality ofmobile stations; and wherein the base station transceiver receivesinformation from each of the plurality of mobile stations derived byeach mobile station from data packets transmitted on the forward sharedchannel to each of the plurality of mobile stations which is a functionof at least two of a plurality of parameters, the parameters beingthroughput of the data packets, frame error rate of the data packets,delay of the data packets and subscriber priority; and the base stationtransceiver schedules a next transmission of data packets to one of theplurality of mobile stations based upon calculating a schedulingquantity for each of the plurality of mobile stations which is afunction of at least two of the plurality of the parameters whichsatisfies a scheduling criteria to determine which mobile station isallocated the next transmission of data packets. The next transmissionmay be assigned to a mobile station which qualifies under the schedulingcriteria by performing a comparison of all calculated schedulingquantities for the mobile stations. The scheduling quantity may be afunction of all of the parameters. The function of throughput may be afunction of a ratio R(req)/R(avg), where R(req) is the requiredthroughput of the data packets and R(avg) is the average throughput ofthe data packets, a function of a ratio FER(avg)/FER(req) where FER(avg)is the average frame error rate of the data packets and FER is therequired frame error rate of the data packets, a function of a ratioDELAY(avg)/DELAY(req) where DELAY(avg) is the average transmission delaybetween transmission of the data packets and DELAY(req) is the maximumpermissible transmission delay of the data packets and the subscriberpriority is a saved subscriber priority of a priority of datatransmission between subscribers of the mobile stations. The schedulingquantity may be defined as:

SCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*

FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri

where k1, k2 and k3 are normalization factors which are configurable atthe base transceiver station and pri is the subscriber priority.

A system in accordance with the invention includes a base transceiverstation and a mobile station; and wherein the base transceiver stationresolves whether frame error rate or throughput of data packettransmission to the mobile station over a forward shared channel shouldbe used to control a selection of which of a plurality of modulation andcoding selection methods is to be used to transmit data packets over theforward shared channel to the mobile station with the base transceiverstation computing a frame error rate of data packet transmission to themobile station and comparing the calculated frame error rate to athreshold frame error rate and a throughput data rate of data packettransmission to the mobile station and comparing the calculatedthroughput data rate to a threshold throughput data rate, and the mobilestation generates a trigger which identifies which of frame error rateor throughput is to be used to control selection of a modulation andcoding selection method to be used at the base transceiver station totransmit data packets on the forward shared channel and the generatedtrigger is transmitted to the base transceiver station where the triggeris used at least as part of a selection criteria for choosing selectionof one of a frame error rate or a throughput modulation coding dependentmethod used to transmit the data packets on the forward channel to themobile station. The generation of the frame error rate trigger in themobile station can be based on the physical layer frame or applicationlayer frame error rate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art system of a base transceiver station andmultiple mobile stations in which the present invention may bepracticed.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the process for controlling channel allocationaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the generation of triggers by the MSs whichare used to control MSC by the BTS.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a scheduler in a BTS in accordance with thepresent invention which controls the assigning of time slots fortransmission to a MS having a highest calculated SCHDL(i).

FIG. 5 illustrates a process of MSC selection by a BTS in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates the calculation process by the BTS for calculatingparameters used in scheduling of the time slot for the next data packettransmission to one of plural MSs in accordance with the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not allembodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legalrequirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

The present invention is a process and system which uses the forwardshared channel of the prior art, such as, but not limited to, FIG. 1 toprovide high speed packet data services for multiple MSs with acontrolled QoS. The invention controls (1) the selection of which MS isto receive a next transmission on the forward shared channel and (2)which MCS method is to be used to maintain or improve QoS in thetransmissions to the MS. The fulfillment of a QoS requirement for eachMS and optimal radio resource management are important functionsprovided by the BTS by the present invention. The invention uses MSmeasurement feedback and selection of a MCS from a group of selectableMSC to achieve the above performance benefits.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of the process steps for scheduling ofthe next MS to receive a transmission of data packets on the sharedforward channel and MCS selection from a selectable group of MCSs by theBTS which are performed by at least one processor in each of the BTS andin each MS (not illustrated). At point 100, the BTS receives the qualityindication described below from the MS that has just received thetransmission of data packets on the forward shared channel. The qualityindication includes the ratio of pilot channel to the interference fromother cells, (e.g. Ec/Nt) and the throughput trigger or FER trigger asdescribed below with reference to FIG. 3 which is used to select the MCSto be used to make a packet data transmission on the forward channelfrom a group of selectable MCSs. At point 102, the BTS schedules thenext transmission slot of each forward shared channel for which multipleMSs contend. Scheduling is based on the QoS requirement of each MS user.Once a particular MS has been scheduled for the next transmission slotat point 104, the BS selects the optimal MCS to fulfill the requiredQoS. At point 106, the BTS updates the dynamic statistics of averagethroughput, FER and delay for the MS for the next process cycle asdescribed below with reference to FIG. 5. The invention provides forforward shared channel allocation and QoS management by:

1. MS measurement feedback decoded at point 100

2. Scheduling at point 102

3. MCS selection at point 104

All three points 100, 102 and 104 are part of the processes of theinvention and the first point 100 is also related to 1XEV-DVstandardization. Hereinafter, the processes represented by the points100, 102 and 104 are discussed respectively with reference to FIGS. 2, 3and 4.

Point 100 R-QIECH Indication Fields:

In order for the BTS to dynamically resolve the trade-off between thecalculated throughput metric and FER metric used to generate athroughput or FER trigger described below with reference to FIG. 3, atleast one processor of the BTS relies on MS feedback on a reversechannel which may without limitation be the R-QIECH or R-CQICH for thedecision process. Throughput measured above the TCP layer is thepreferred source of the throughput measurement but the invention is notlimited thereto. The MS, sitting at the end point of the communicationlink, has a clear understanding of the current throughput and FERtrade-off based on the application requirement and the bufferlimitations of the MS which are used to generate a throughput or FERtrigger depending upon the determined performance seen by the MS in thelast transmissions(s) thereto. Alternatively, the mobile station alsocan use the physical layer or application layer frame error rate togenerate the quality indication including the FER trigger when FERtriggering is used to select MCS based upon FER. This quality indicationcan be bundled inside the Reverse Quality Indication Echo channel(R-QIECH) SDU or passed by the L3 layer signalling standard andpreferably includes either a throughput or FER trigger and Ec/Nt asdescribed below. But the approach using L3 signalling is less attractivedue to the timing consideration.

At least one processor in the MS performs the “metric contentionprocess” as shown in FIG. 3. The requested (“req”) QoS parameters arenegotiated through IS-707A standard for 1X-EV-DV systems. Thecorresponding QoS average values (“m_avg”) are the statistical averagesupdated inside the MS as indicated at point 200 and defined as follows:

metric(R)=½IR(req)−R(m_avg)½/R(req)

metric(FER)= 1/2FER(req)−FER(m_avg) 1/2FER(req)

The throughput metrics, namely metric(R) and metric(FER) are computedbased on the negotiated QoS parameters and MS internal statistics. Thesemetrics represent the present deficiency of throughput and FER and arecompared with deficiency thresholds (“TH”) as indicated at decisionpoints 202-208. The deficiency thresholds are configurable parametersbased on the application. If the deficiency exceeds the deficiencythreshold TH, the deficiency indicates that at the BTS an effort isrequired to compensate for that deficiency. As shown in FIG. 3, the fourdecision points 202, 204, 206 and 208 each use two metrics (metric(R)and metric(FER)) and two thresholds (TH(R) and (TH(FER)) in the decisionprocess to generate the throughput trigger 212 or FER trigger 214depending on whether MCS selection is to be based upon throughput or FERconsiderations.

An extra decision point 210 “error sensitivity” of the application/userin question is used to resolve any deadlock contention betweenthroughput and FER trigger determination which drives the decision to bebased upon a FER trigger if such is important to the user. This factoris explicitly indicated from the application layer or implicitlyderived/mapped by the lower layer at the MS. Finally, the trigger(either throughput trigger 212 or FER trigger 214) is derived from themetric contention process. The trigger (either 212 or 214) then istransmitted in the R-QIECH SDU together with the pilot strength Ec/Nt.The BTS decodes these fields at point 100 and uses these fields asinputs for the optimal MCS decision process (inputs 510 and 512 shown inFIG. 5) to complete the MCS selection as described below.

Point 102: Scheduling for Multiple MSs

“Best-effort” high-speed packet data services over CDMA wireless radiochannels have been developed using 1X-EV-DO technology. A forward link“best effort” scheduler was also proposed in the publication citedabove. In that publication, only throughput (data rate) was taken intoaccount when the BTS schedules multiple MSs to transmit on the forwardshared channel. In other words, the requested and average throughputsare translated into the priority of transmission. The “Assured Mode”, asdefined in IS-707A/IS-2000, for packet data services that requirerestrictive QoS is not addressed in the publication cited above. Theinvention improves scheduling when compared to the publication citedabove.

As shown in FIG. 4, a scheduler is implemented in at least one processorof the BTS. The scheduler takes into account user priority and QoSrequirement parameters, including throughput, frame error rate (FER),and delay as indicated at block 400. The requested values (req) and thepresent average values (avg) of QoS parameters are considered in the“scheduling metric”, SCHDL(i).

SCHDL(i)=((metric(throughput)+metric(FER)+metric(delay))*pri, asindicated in block 400, where

metric(throughput)=k1*R(req)/R(avg),

metric(FER)=k2*FER(avg)/FER(req),

metric(delay)=k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req), and

-   -   k(i) (e.g. k1, k2 and k3)=normalization factors configurable at        the base station and    -   pri=requested priority subscription priority which is saved as        part of the user profile.    -   Subscription priority is saved as part of the user profile.

For “assured mode” services, all requested (“req”) QoS parameters arenegotiated through the IS-707A standard for 1X-EV-DV systems. All thecorresponding QoS average values (“avg”) are the statistical averagesover a long period of time and are updated after each transmissionperiod. The average process of point 106 is described below withreference to FIG. 6. “Pri” is the requested priority multiplied with thesubscription priority that are defined in IS-707A.

The scheduling is done based on the “scheduling metric”, SCHDL(i) ofFIG. 4. At least one processor of the BTS schedules the nexttransmission slot of the forward shared channel for the MS that has thehighest SCHDL(i) value as indicated at block 402.

Point 104: MCS Selection for the Scheduled MS

Once the BTS has completed scheduling for the next transmission period,the MSC for the scheduled MS is performed in the processing at point104.

The process that the BTS performs without limitation to select a MCSmethod is the “optimal MCS decision process” shown in FIG. 5. The BTSreceives the forward channel quality indication from the Reverse QualityIndication Echo Channel (R-QIECH or R-CQICH) for each transmissionduration at point 500. Based on the quality indication (Ec/Nt), the BTSlooks up information used to select the MSC as a function of FER andthroughput which may be without limitation stored in two internal tablesindicated at points 502 and 504: Table 1-“FER vs. Ec/Nt table” and Table2-“throughput vs. Ec/Nt table”. Each table look-up generates a set ofpossible MCS selections to be used to control transmission of datapackets from the BTS to multiple MSs. Next, based on the trigger (eitherthroughput trigger 212 or FER trigger 214) obtained from the reversechannel, such as R-QEICH or R-CQICH, the BTS determines which MCS setfrom Table 1 or Table 2, or from any storage containing the MSCselection information as a function of FER, throughput and Ec/Nt, shouldbe dominating as indicated as selection points 506 and 508 which areresponsive respectively to the input throughput trigger 212 at point 510and the input FER trigger 214 at point 512. Only one selection occurs ata time based upon either the throughput trigger 212 or the FER trigger214. When the throughput trigger is indicated, the optimal MCS isselected from the throughput MCS set (i.e. MCS(r)), as indicated atblock 516. If the FER trigger is indicated, the optimal MCS is selectedfrom the FER MSC set (i.e. MCS(fer)) as indicated at block 514. Notethat the selection is “optimal” because the MCS with lowest FER or withthe highest throughput is selected. Also note that Tables 1 and 2 orother equivalent storage are configurable at the BTS.

An example explaining the optimal MCS decision process is as follows:After obtaining Ec/Nt, the BTS looks up Table 1 and identifies Npossible MCS selections and N corresponding FER values, MCS (fer)n andFER(current)n, where n=1 . . . N and looks up Table 2 and identifies Mpossible MCS selections with M corresponding throughput values, MCS(r)mand R(current)m, where m=1 . . . M. If trigger FER is indicated, theMCS(fer) with the lowest FER is selected. If throughput trigger isindicated, the MCS(r)m with highest throughput is selected. Thecorresponding FER value from Table 1 becomes FER(current), and thecorresponding throughput value from Table 2 becomes R(current).FER(current) and R(current) are the instantaneous FER and throughput forthe next transmission. If throughput trigger is indicated, the MSC(r)mwith highest throughput is selected. These values are also used toupdate the averages at point 106 discussed below with reference to FIG.6.

Point 106: Updating Average of Throughput, FER, and Delay

After each transmission, the BTS updates the average of throughput, FER,and delay as indicated at block 600 of FIG. 6. These average values areused for the next cycle of scheduling of a MCS process as indicated atblock 602. The averaging process is a low-pass process of instantaneousvalues over a time period, Tconst, longer than the transmissionduration, e.g. (N*5) ms, where N is configurable in the BTS. Thisprocess is similar to the process of the publication cited above. Theaveraging process shown in FIG. 6 is also expressed as:

R(avg)next=R(avg)+[R(current)−R(avg)]/Tconst

FER(avg)next=FER(avg)+[FER(current)−FER(avg)]/Tconst

DELAY(avg)next=DELAY(avg)+[DELAY(current)−DELAY(avg)]/Tconst.

The actual scheduling of a particular MS is based upon the calculationby at least one processor in the BTS of the quantity SCHDL(i) of FIG. 4with the forward channel transmission slot being assigned to the MSmeeting a scheduling criteria which is preferably the MS having thehighest calculated value of SCHDL(i) as indicated at block 402. Thescheduling may be based on and may be a function of at least two of theparameters of the throughput of the data packets, frame error rate ofthe data packets, delay of the data packets and subscriber priority ofblock 400 with the scheduling being a function of all four parametersbeing preferred.

While the invention has been described in terms of its preferredembodiments, it should be understood that numerous modifications theretomay be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims. It is intended that all such modifications fall within the scopeof the appended claims.

1. A process for scheduling the transmission of data packets from a basetransceiver station over a forward shared channel to a plurality ofmobile stations comprising: receiving at the base station transceiverinformation from each of the plurality of mobile stations derived byeach mobile station from data packets transmitted on the forward sharedchannel to each of the plurality of mobile stations which is a functionat least two of a plurality of parameters, the parameters beingthroughput of the data packets, frame error rate of the data packets,delay of the data packets and subscriber priority; and scheduling a nexttransmission of data packets to one of the plurality of mobile stationsbased upon calculating a scheduling quantity for each of the pluralityof mobile stations which is a function of at least two of the pluralityof the parameters which satisfies a scheduling criteria to determinewhich mobile station is allocated the next transmission of data packets.2. A process in accordance with claim 1, wherein the next transmissionis assigned to a mobile station which qualifies under the schedulingcriteria by performing a comparison of all calculated schedulingquantities for the mobile stations.
 3. A process in accordance withclaim 1, wherein the scheduling quantity is a function of all of theparameters.
 4. A process in accordance with claim 2, wherein thescheduling quantity is a function of all of the parameters.
 5. A processin accordance with claim 1, wherein scheduling quantity is a function ofa ratio R(req)/R(avg), where R(req) is the required throughput of thedata packets and R(avg) is the average throughput of the data packets, afunction of a ratio FER(avg)/FER(req) where FER(avg) is the averageframe error rate of the data packets and FER is the required frame errorrate of the data packets, a function of a ratio DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req)where DELAY(avg) is the average transmission delay between transmissionof the data packets and DELAY(req) is the maximum permissibletransmission delay of the data packets and the subscriber priority is asaved subscriber priority of a priority of data transmission betweensubscribers of the mobile stations.
 6. A process in accordance withclaim 2, wherein scheduling quantity is a function of a ratioR(req)/R(avg), where R(req) is the required throughput of the datapackets and R(avg) is the average throughput of the data packets, afunction of a ratio FER(avg)/FER(req) where FER(avg) is the averageframe error rate of the data packets and FER is the required frame errorrate of the data packets, a function of a ratio DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req)where DELAY(avg) is the average transmission delay between transmissionof the data packets and DELAY(req) is the maximum permissibletransmission delay of the data packets and the subscriber priority is asaved subscriber priority of a priority of data transmission betweensubscribers of the mobile stations.
 7. A process in accordance withclaim 3, wherein scheduling quantity is a function of a ratioR(req)/R(avg), where R(req) is the required throughput of the datapackets and R(avg) is the average throughput of the data packets, afunction of a ratio FER(avg)/FER(req) where FER(avg) is the averageframe error rate of the data packets and FER is the required frame errorrate of the data packets, a function of a ratio DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req)where DELAY(avg) is the average transmission delay between transmissionof the data packets and DELAY(req) is the maximum permissibletransmission delay of the data packets and the subscriber priority is asaved subscriber priority of a priority of data transmission betweensubscribers of the mobile stations.
 8. A process in accordance withclaim 4, wherein scheduling quantity is a function of a ratioR(req)/R(avg), where R(req) is the required throughput of the datapackets and R(avg) is the average throughput of the data packets, afunction of a ratio FER(avg)/FER(req) where FER(avg) is the averageframe error rate of the data packets and FER is the required frame errorrate of the data packets, a function of a ratio DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req)where DELAY(avg) is the average transmission delay between transmissionof the data packets and DELAY(req) is the maximum permissibletransmission delay of the data packets and the subscriber priority is asaved subscriber priority of a priority of data transmission betweensubscribers of the mobile stations.
 9. A process in accordance withclaim 1, wherein the scheduling quantity is SCHDL(i) andSCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri where k1, k2 and k3 arenormalization factors which are configurable at the base transceiverstation and pri is a requested priority subscription priority.
 10. Aprocess in accordance with claim 2, wherein the scheduling quantity isSCHDL(i) and SCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri where ki, k2 and k3 arenormalization factors which are configurable at the base transceiverstation and pri is a requested priority subscription priority.
 11. Aprocess in accordance with claim 3 wherein the scheduling quantity isSCHDL(i) andSCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri where ki, k2 and k3 arenormalization factors which are configurable at the base transceiverstation and pri is a requested priority subscription priority.
 12. Aprocess in accordance with claim 4, wherein the scheduling quantity isSCHDL(i) andSCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri where ki, k2 and k3 arenormalization factors which are configurable at the base transceiverstation and pri is a requested priority subscription priority.
 13. Aprocess in accordance with claim 5, wherein the scheduling quantity isSCHDL(i) andSCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri where ki, k2 and k3 arenormalization factors which are configurable at the base transceiverstation and pri is a requested priority subscription priority.
 14. Aprocess in accordance with claim 6, wherein the scheduling quantity isSCHDL(i) andSCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri where ki, k2 and k3 arenormalization factors which are configurable at the base transceiverstation and pri is a requested priority subscription priority.
 15. Aprocess in accordance with claim 7, wherein the scheduling quantity isSCHDL(i) andSCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri where ki, k2 and k3 arenormalization factors which are configurable at the base transceiverstation and pri is a requested priority subscription priority.
 16. Aprocess in accordance with claim 8, wherein the scheduling quantity isSCHDL(i) andSCHDL(i)=(k1*R(req)/R(avg)+k2*FER(avg)/FER(req)+k3*DELAY(avg)/DELAY(req))*pri where ki, k2 and k3 arenormalization factors which are configurable at the base transceiverstation and pri is a requested priority subscription priority.
 17. Aapparatus comprising: a processor configured to receive information fromeach of a plurality of mobile stations derived by each mobile stationfrom data packets transmitted on a forward shared channel to each of theplurality of mobile stations which is a function of at least two of aplurality of parameters, the parameters being throughput of the datapackets, frame error rate of the data packets, delay of the data packetsand subscriber priority; and wherein the processor is further configuredto schedule a next transmission of data packets to one of the pluralityof mobile stations based upon calculating a scheduling quantity for eachof the plurality of mobile stations which is a function of at least twoof the plurality of the parameters which satisfies a scheduling criteriato determine which mobile station is allocated the next transmission ofdata packets.